Deuteronomy 8:2

And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord, thy God, led thee these forty years in the wilderness, with all the various attendant miracles, to humble thee under God's mighty hand, and to prove thee, to teat out their trust in God's almighty power, love, and justice, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep His commandments or no. It is only when a person despairs of his own strength and is humbled from his self-presumption that he is ready to hear and obey God. The entire wilderness journey had an educational purpose.